160 



THE GAME BREEDER 



Brush Covers^Interior Big Pen. 



matters are adjusted properly in places 

 where game preserving is properly car-, 

 ried on and where the shooting always 

 is lively. 



We should all go in for more rabbits 

 and less nonsense about shooting them 

 on "a tracking snow." 



♦= 



The Big Pheasant Pen. 



A great deal of interest has been 

 shown regarding the use of big pens for 

 pheasant breeding. We shall have some 

 interesting articles on this subject written 

 by practical breeders. 



The picture of a successful big pen 

 printed in this issue gives an idea of how 

 brush is arranged to give the birds some 

 shelter and concealment. Defeated cock 

 birds easily escape their rivals by run- 

 ning through such brush and we have 

 had hundreds of birds in such a pen 

 without any considerable loss due to 

 fighting. At the time the picture was 

 made the pen was used to confine some 

 young pheasants. 



• 



Egg-Eating. 

 Some pheasants form the habit of eat- 

 ing eggs that are laid in the pens. Vari- 

 ous means have been tried to stop this 

 bad habit. Often only one bird in a pen 

 will be found eating eggs, and this bird 



should be removed before others form 

 the habit. One English-authority says 

 it' is difficult to catch a hen after it has 

 been observed to eat eggs, since it is dif- 

 ficult to distinguish it until it can be 

 captured. It is important to gather eggs 

 frequently In order to remove the tempt- 

 ation. 



Simpson says the best method to com- 

 bat the evil is to place several cast iron 

 eggs, painted as near the color of pheas- 

 ant eggs as possible, in the breeding pen. 

 The birds seldom take a second peck at 

 these iron eggs and avoid the true eggs 

 lying about. 



^ 



Feather Eating. 



Pheasants sometimes may be noticed 

 eating feathers and plucking them from 

 other birds. I once observed a big pen 

 full of young pheasants, about two-thirds 

 grown, many of which were observed 

 olucking the feathers from other birds. 

 The keeper could not account for the 

 habit. Page says it is the result of a 

 craving for animal food and suggests 

 that this be supplied. 



Snakie and Rabbit. 



Earnest Cramer, H. S. Soule and Ear- 

 nest Kuebler. three, sportsmen of The 

 Dalles, while hunting on the North Fork 



